|Isabella of France was a princess of the very highest rank, her father being Philip IV. of France, and her mother Queen of Navarre. But she was likewise one of the worst women that ever occupied the throne of England. She was born in 1295, and when only nine years of age was betrothed to Edward, Prince of Wales. At that time her father agreed to settle on her the sum of £18,000 for her marriage portion. He was not rich enough to give her so much money, but he got possession of it by murdering and robbing the poor Knights Templars--a religious body first established at Jerusalem to protect pilgrims travelling in the Holy Land. Such ill-gotten gain could not be expected to bestow much pleasure or profit on the possessor of it. When Edward I. was dying, he charged his son to lose no time in completing the arrangements for his marriage, and the prince had received such favorable reports concerning the personal charms of his lady-love that he hastened to obey. Before the king was buried he dispatched two earls to France to appoint the wedding day. He was so much in love, that it is said he lost the kingdom of Scotland by hurrying away to get married when his presence in that country would have made him its sovereign. He need not have been in such haste, for Isabella was scarcely fourteen years of age, and perhaps if he had waited {182}until her mind was more matured, she would not have acted so unwisely as she did on several occasions afterwards. Grand preparations were made at Westminster Palace for the reception of the young queen. The royal apartments were re-decorated and handsomely furnished, the gardens were newly laid out and planted with the rarest flowers, the fish-ponds were all cleaned out and freshly supplied, and Queen's Bridge was repaired. The royal ship called Margaret of Westminster was cleaned, painted, and newly fitted up under the king's personal direction for the comfort of his expected bride, and no trouble or expense was spared that could add to her pleasure. When everything was ready, Edward appointed his favorite, Piers Gaveston, guardian of the country, and sailed, accompanied by Queen Marguerite, his stepmother, to meet his bride. He landed at Boulogne, where Isabella and her royal parents awaited him, and the next day the marriage was celebrated at the famous cathedral of that town. [[A. D. 1308.]] Four kings and four queens were present, besides a larger number of princes and nobility than had ever met together on such an occasion, and the church presented an appearance of unusual magnificence. The bride's beauty excited the greatest admiration, and she was called Isabella the Fair. Had any member of that royal assembly been told that before the end of her life she would be known as the "She-wolf of France," he would not have believed it; appearances are often deceptive.